Review of Sock Lobsters
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evraealtana
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Review of Sock Lobsters
[Following is a volunteer review of "Sock Lobsters" by Michelle Bulriss.]
A young woman named Emily receives a box mailed to her by her grandmother and opens it to find a pair of adorable hand-knit socks shaped like lobsters. Emily pulls the socks out of their box and quickly realizes that the socks are alive! Their names are Sebastian and Lola, and although their personalities are completely opposite, they are the best of friends.
Emily loves her new socks and takes good care of them. But on her way home from the laundromat, Lola falls out of Emily’s laundry basket and onto the sidewalk. For the first time in their lives, Lola and Sebastian are separated, and they are heartbroken to be apart from each other. How can they cope with their feelings? How will these two best friends be reunited?
Sock Lobsters, written by Michelle Bulriss, is a cute, sweet children’s story about two magical lobster socks managing their first complex emotional experience. The target audience appears to be children who are approximately six to eight years of age, and I would imagine them reading this book independently. Most of the text is simple with a few slightly more challenging words, like “frustration” and “elderly”, to stretch the vocabulary.
The gorgeous, full-page illustrations support the story beautifully and do wonders to bring Sebastian and Lola to life. The book also offers help for children in managing emotions, like demonstrating the technique of counting to five before reacting to strong feelings, and normalizes experiencing a range of emotions, like when the author shows one of the socks undergoing all five stages of grief. I loved that the story was not only entertaining but also educational. The fact that the socks look so much like lobsters makes the story a little bit silly, counteracting the potential heaviness of including these important life lessons.
The author has clearly put in the work to make this book shine. There is absolutely no objectionable content and not a single spelling or grammar mistake. My only critique is that the book does not translate well to Kindle formatting; the storytelling relies on large illustrations, but the Kindle format cuts off these images unless the browser window is excessively zoomed out. I would therefore recommend getting the print version of the book instead of the Kindle one.
I am delighted to give Sock Lobsters a perfect score of 4 out of 4 for its darling tale of the special friendship between two magical lobster socks and for its surprisingly deep life lessons on handling emotions. It would most appeal to children between six and eight years of age. Because missing a loved one is such a universal experience, I believe that all children will be able to relate to the lobsters’ feelings and will therefore be able to appreciate this story.
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Sock Lobsters
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
A young woman named Emily receives a box mailed to her by her grandmother and opens it to find a pair of adorable hand-knit socks shaped like lobsters. Emily pulls the socks out of their box and quickly realizes that the socks are alive! Their names are Sebastian and Lola, and although their personalities are completely opposite, they are the best of friends.
Emily loves her new socks and takes good care of them. But on her way home from the laundromat, Lola falls out of Emily’s laundry basket and onto the sidewalk. For the first time in their lives, Lola and Sebastian are separated, and they are heartbroken to be apart from each other. How can they cope with their feelings? How will these two best friends be reunited?
Sock Lobsters, written by Michelle Bulriss, is a cute, sweet children’s story about two magical lobster socks managing their first complex emotional experience. The target audience appears to be children who are approximately six to eight years of age, and I would imagine them reading this book independently. Most of the text is simple with a few slightly more challenging words, like “frustration” and “elderly”, to stretch the vocabulary.
The gorgeous, full-page illustrations support the story beautifully and do wonders to bring Sebastian and Lola to life. The book also offers help for children in managing emotions, like demonstrating the technique of counting to five before reacting to strong feelings, and normalizes experiencing a range of emotions, like when the author shows one of the socks undergoing all five stages of grief. I loved that the story was not only entertaining but also educational. The fact that the socks look so much like lobsters makes the story a little bit silly, counteracting the potential heaviness of including these important life lessons.
The author has clearly put in the work to make this book shine. There is absolutely no objectionable content and not a single spelling or grammar mistake. My only critique is that the book does not translate well to Kindle formatting; the storytelling relies on large illustrations, but the Kindle format cuts off these images unless the browser window is excessively zoomed out. I would therefore recommend getting the print version of the book instead of the Kindle one.
I am delighted to give Sock Lobsters a perfect score of 4 out of 4 for its darling tale of the special friendship between two magical lobster socks and for its surprisingly deep life lessons on handling emotions. It would most appeal to children between six and eight years of age. Because missing a loved one is such a universal experience, I believe that all children will be able to relate to the lobsters’ feelings and will therefore be able to appreciate this story.
******
Sock Lobsters
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
